Fourth annual CommUniversity Day deepening its roots

Author: Brittany Collins

Published: March 26, 2012

The fourth annual CommUniversity Day, a day of community service and teamwork between University of Notre Dame students and the City of South Bend, will take place March 31 (Saturday).

The effort, a collaboration between the student governments of Notre Dame, Saint Mary’s College, Ivy Tech, Holy Cross and Indiana University South Bend; the Robinson Community Learning Center; Unity Gardens; and the City of South Bend, involves 40 projects in the community. Organizers anticipate about 700 student volunteers.

Projects will take place at a variety of locations, including The Center for the Homeless, Potawatomi Zoo and Hannah & Friends. This year’s theme is “Deepening Our Roots,” which means many of the projects are aimed toward helping and protecting the environment.

Projects include spring cleaning and playground sprucing at South Bend’s Kelly Park and Leeper Park, painting at El Campito Day Care, working with city engineers to develop a plan to solve a drainage issue near a park, painting fire hydrants, and installing a rain garden at South Bend’s Martin Luther King Recreation Center.

Organizers are including a food drive to benefit the Neighbors in Need initiative, in which all of the schools are participants. The public is encouraged to drop off donations at the RCLC, 921 N. Eddy St., South Bend.

The community is invited to attend the following events:

At 7 p.m. March 28 (Wednesday), speakers from the Robinson Center, Unity Gardens and the Food Bank of Northern Indiana will hold a panel discussion on social issues in the community and how their organizations approach them. This discussion, open to the public, will take place at the DeBartolo Hall auditorium, Room 101.

From 1-3 p.m. March 31, a Kids’ Festival will be held on the Irish Green outside the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center. The festival is geared toward preschool and elementary-school students and their families.

From 1-3:30 p.m. March 31, guided tours of campus will begin at the Robinson Center and the Irish Green.

From 3-5 p.m. March 31, organizers will host a community picnic at the Robinson Center to celebrate the day. The picnic will feature free food and drinks as well as performances from Halftime and the Notre Dame Glee Club.

Campus and community members are encouraged to visit communiversityday.nd.edu for more information or to sign up for projects.